


Tom

by Bomunuf



Category: Captain America (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Child Abuse, Dad!Steve, Dad!Tony, F/M, FTM, Foster Care, Kidfic, M/M, Non Graphic, Parents, Stony - Freeform, Superfamily, Trans Character, but it's there all the same, few original characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 21:41:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4641156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bomunuf/pseuds/Bomunuf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Clint found a boy sleeping in his bin, his first instinct was to get him some food.  Things just escalated from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, welcome to my fic. I don't know how regularly I'll update this but comment and let me know what you think. Chapter two is well underway so if this gets a good response I'll post it. Leave kudos if you enjoyed it.

  
Clint stood in the alley by the tower. The bin was only a couple of feet high, it shouldn't have been taking him this long to jump onto it. He'd been out of the field for three months and was due to stay out another three, he was getting antsy. He pulled his arms back and used the momentum to spring himself onto the lid. He sat down, and caught his breath, nursing his shoulder. He felt a bang come from underneath him and he immediately jumped up. He felt it again and jumped off the bin and opening the lid in one swift movement.

A kid not much older than 14 was lying about half way down on top of a pile of thrash. He had a back pack tangled with one arm and the other shielding his eyes from the sudden onslaught of light. He was skinny and shivering. He moved his hand out of the way and Clint was disgusted to see a fresh purple bruise covering the left side of his face.

"Shit kid what the hell are you doing?" he muttered leaning in to help him out.

The kid buckled and lashed out, swinging fists at him. Clint deflected them, letting the kid fall back into the bin. He raised his hands.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna touch you."

The kid nodded. He pulled himself up and climbed out of the bin, he gave Clint a once over and ran. Clint followed closely behind. The kid was swaying dangerously in that alley. He didn't look like he had enough body fat to keep his head upright. Surely enough, one block away a patch of ice caught him by surprise and he went flying. Clint knelt down and wrapped his coat around him before picking him up fireman style. He struggled a bit but was too weak to fight too hard and gave in.

Clint brought him to his apartment and placed him on his couch, piling cushions under his head.

"How d'you feel about hospitals kid?"

The boy shook his head. "Sir please, lemme go, my ma'll be worried."

Clint gave him a once over. "What's your name?"

"Tom."

"Well Tom, where was your mom last night when you were sleeping in my bin?"

"Sir please. It's, it's complicated alri?"

"We've plenty of time," Clint smirked.

"This is kidnapping, sir," Tom stuttered trying to stand up.

"Clint. Now sit down. It's not kidnapping for 24 hours and I've no intentions of keeping you. Why were you in my bin?"

Tom rubbed his hands together and closed his eyes.

"They wouldn't lemme go see her," he said softly. "My ma, that is. I got moved from my last family to one way out in the suburbs and she's here in the city. She's sick, y'know? Real sick. I just needed to see her, and they wouldn't take me."

"So you ran," Clint finished sighing. "Tom I'm going to have to call your case worker. There's probably a reason they don't want you to see her."

Tom snorted. "Damn right there is, they'll get in trouble for knocking me around a bit."

Clint ran his hand through his hair. "That bruise doesn't look like 'knocked around a bit'."

"Yeah well," the I've had worse was implied.

"I'll get you out," Tom looked at him sceptically. "Look I need your caseworker's number, a kid with no parents goes missing," he waved at himself. "And no one gives a shit. A kid with parents," he waved at Tom. "And you'll have every cop in New York looking for you, trying to bring you back. If you get me your caseworker's number I'll bring you to your mom."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "And why should I trust you?"

Clint shrugged. "You've no reason to, but I haven't done anything wrong yet have I?"

"How about you get me lunch, I give you the number?"

"Tom I was gonna order some food for us anyway, don't worry about that," Clint said. "Do you want anything in particular?"

"Whatever's cheap. Here's the number," he said grabbing a pen of the table and writing it on his hand. 212 9110 987. He'd learnt it off after his first foster home.  
Clint pulled out his mobile and dialed the number. He walked out of the room throwing the TV remote at Tom.  
"Hello, Kathryn Holler, how can I help you?"

"Hello Ms Holler, Clint Barton, you're a social worker yeah?"

"I am, do you need help sir?"

"Oh no I'm okay, I've one of your kids here, says he's run away. Tom."

"Oh thank God, his foster family's worried sick. Can I put you on hold so I can call them?"

"Ms Holler I don't think that's the best idea. He's told me that they've been hitting him. I don't know how severe it is but I can't let him go back to them."

"Shit. Can I get your address Mr Barton, I presume you live in the city, that's always where he ends up."

"Yes ma'am," he said, listing of his address. "I'm going to buy him some lunch and try to get him to open up a bit, when suits for you to come over?"

"I'll be around by 5pm, be careful, he's had it a lot worse than most are willing to hear."

"I'll manage, I'll see you later. Thank you," Clint hung up and walked back into the living room.

Tom sat in the exact same position. He hadn't touched the remote and was twiddling his thumbs in a nervous manner. His head snapped up when Clint entered the room.

"She's coming around 5, I'm gonna order some pizza, what do you want on yours?"

"That meat, pepp'roni," Tom grinned. "Please."

Clint ordered online while switching on the TV. "Wanna watch a movie?"

Tom nodded, fiddling with his sleeves. Clint scrolled down the TV and turned on an easy going comedy. Lucky snaked his way into the room and sat beside Tom on the couch. He started petting him absent-mindedly. They got about half way through the film when their pizzas arrived. Clint paused the TV and ushered the child into the eating area. He poured two glasses of water and sat down.

"Work away," he said opening the two boxes. Tom didn't hesitate, grabbing a slice and biting off half in the one go. "Go easy kid, no one's gonna take it away. That's all yours."

Tom lowered his slice and chewed on what was in his mouth.

"How old are you Tom?"

"Think 'm 15, could be wrong though. Kathryn'd tell ya," Tom said. "Is she sending me back sir?"

Clint didn't spend too long thinking about the meaning behind Tom's statement. "No Tom, I'm going to get my friend to call down actually, he lives quite local and he has two other foster kids. He definitely has enough space for you, it's just a matter of whether you two get on or not."

Tom ate another slice of pizza. "What if Kathryn says no?"

"Trust me, she won't."

They finished their food and sat back down, turning on the movie. Clint texted Tony a simple "You got room for another kid?"

Ten minutes later and Tony was standing at the door. He was in a grease stained Metallica t-shirt and loose fitting track pants. He looked a little wind swept, as though he'd ran from his apartment. He nodded at Clint and rubbed his chest, where the arc reactor sat, as though he was in pain.

"You okay Stark?" Clint asked, concerned. The reactor had caused trouble in the past but for the most part they'd been solved. Tony held up a finger to Clint and took a few deep breaths.

"Fantastic," he grinned. "What's the deal, is the kid here?"

"He's inside, fuck Tony he's been hurt real bad. His mom's sick and being kept somewhere in the city. His case worker's been placing him further and further out into the suburbs. I don't think this will be a short term thing," Clint shrugged. He was trying desperately to keep his voice low.

"Clint I've had Peter five years now, Maisy isn't going anywhere either. But if it turns out he does just need somewhere to pass through I'll be happy to provide that," Tony said.

"I'd keep him myself but I don't think they'd let me," he replied. "Oh Tony, I didn't mention you and Steve, figured we'd jump that hurdle when we reached it."

Tony nodded briefly before following Clint back into the living area. Tom was perched on the edge of the couch, his left hand gripping his right shoulder. His eyes flicked over to the two men walking in and tightened his grip.

"Tom, Tony Stark, Tony, Tom," Clint said sitting down beside him. Tony took the seat across from them and stretched out his hand.

Tom flinched slightly but shook his hand anyway.

"Nice to meet you Tom, Clint says you need a place to stay?" Tony asked in a soft tone.

"Yes Mr Stark," he replied mechanically. "I guess so."

"Tony's fine, we're going to sort it out with your caseworker that you can live with me."

"Thanks Tony," Tom said glancing at the ground. "I didn't know you fostered your kids?"

"The papers don't know everything about me, Peter's seventeen and Maisy's six. They've been living with me five and two years respectively. I guess everyone assumes they're mine biologically."

Tom made a muffled noise in agreement as someone knocked on the door. Clint opened it. A woman with sleek ginger hair pulled back into a tight ponytail walked in.

"Kathryn!"Tom shouted jumping up and running to the woman. She smiled and opened her arms, which he ran into. After a moment she pulled him away and pinched his chin, inspecting his bruised face.

"Tom what did they do to you?"

He shrugged her off and stared at his feet.

"Doesn't matter...."

Clint swooped in behind him holding out his hand.

"Clint Barton we spoke on the phone."

Kathryn smiled and introduced herself. Tony stood up and did the same. Stifling a yawn Tom lay down on the couch, kicking his shoes off. He was tired. It had been a long day and he felt safe enough with Kathryn to let his guard down. He shut his eyes planning on sleeping for only a few minutes or so.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, thanks for the wonderful response to chapter one. I have an idea of where I'm going with this but as always comments and kudos will encourage me.

He woke with a jolt.  Sweat beading down his face and bed sheets strewn on the floor.  He panicked.  He didn't know where he was and he sure as hell couldn't remember a bed.  His breathing eradicated and he felt dizzy.  He wasn't breathing.  He was going to die.  He tried to call out but the words were stuck in his throat.  

The bedroom door was pushed open and light flooded the room.  Someone was forcing him upright, brushing his hair back off his face.  

"Hey Tom it's okay, it's me Tony.  Kathryn and Clint are inside, you've been sleeping for about two hours now.  It's okay, can you take a deep breath with me?  Like this.  Good man, it'll pass soon.  Just keep taking deep breaths," he rambled.  

Gasping, Tom replied.  "Thanks Tony."

"So we all sat down and talked.  Kathryn cleared me to take you home and I've texted Peter to set up a room for you.  I've called my driver to come pick us up.  So lets get you ready and the four of us are going to head over."

Tom nodded climbing out of the bed.  He looked around at the floor.  

"Where're my shoes?" he said desperately.  "I need my shoes."

"Hey, hey it's okay," Tony tried to soothe him, not wanting him to slip back into a panic attack.  "They're inside.  Come on we'll go get them."

Tom stood up and walked out of the room, following Tony back to the living room.  Clint and Kathryn greeted him.  He gave them a quick wave as he pulled on his shoes.

"Happy's here, everyone ready to go?"  Tony called out.  

The four walked down to the building's entrance as a black limo pulled up.  Tony opened up the door and helped Tom climb in.  He sat down in awe looking around.

"This is like three times the size of my oul' room," he grinned.  Kathryn sat beside him and Tony and Clint across.

They sat in comfortable silence until the car pulled up outside the Avengers' Tower.  The four got out of the car, Kathryn and Clint standing either side of him and Tony leading the way.  The men nodded politely at the receptionist and Tony produced a key card to open the elevator.  The went up to the 50th floor and followed Tony down a maze of corridors, before reaching the door to his family's apartment.  They walked inside and Tom looked around to see expensive looking couches surrounding floorspace covered in dolls and toy trucks.

"Hello!" Tony shouted.

Two kids, who Tom assumed were Peter and Maisy walked into the living area, Maisy tackling the man into a hug.

"Hey Uncky Clint," she said with a toothy grin, turned to Tom and asked.  "Who are you?"

Tom looked around uncomfortably.  Tony picked his daughter up and hushed her. 

"Tom's gonna stay with us honey.  Why don't you and Peter show him the house and I'll do all the boring paperwork with your Uncky Clint and Ms Holler here."

"Okay daddy," the little girl smiled.  "C'mon Tom, c'mon Petey."

Tom blushed pink and followed the girl while the adults sat down at the couches.  Kathryn pulled out the thick stack of papers he knew was his file.

She flicked it open to the first page.  It had an old passport style photo of Tom.  He was much younger, nine or ten, with hair an awkwardly long length.  Beside the picture were his details.  Name, address, list of homes and his reasons for being removed from both them and his mother.  Once Tom was well out of earshot Kathryn started filling the men in properly on his situation.

"Okay, so I know back at Tony's I gave you a general overview of his situation but I have to tell you there's far more to it.  D you see this?"  Kathryn pointed at his name.  "Do you understand what that means?  That's not a problem is it?"

"Of course not," Tony said shaking his head.  

"Good.  It has been before.  Now his mother is hospitalised here in the city, and really I want to limit Tom's time with her, she was abusive in ways that weren't physical.  Unfortunately this means Tom dismisses it, blames himself.  She was very absent when he was growing up, drug addict, verbally assaulted him often too."

"Jesus.  Ms Holler, he really loves her," Clint said rubbing a hand over his face.  "I promised him he could go see her."

"Kathryn, please.  She has visitation rights, but I want him seeing her once a week max.  We need to ease him off."

"Understandable," Tony muttered flicking through the papers.  "Why was he in sixteen homes over the past five years?  That seems quite excessive."  

"Tom started off in homes when he was nine for a few weeks at a time while his mother had treatment.  That's when his social workers began to notice signs of neglectful parenting.  So he was in about three before we took him out of his home for the foreseeable future.  After that he just ended up in bad homes.  I've had to remove him for safety reasons more than once.  But if this it to be a permanent situation he'll tell you himself in his own time," she sighed.  "I'm going to launch an investigation on his last home."

"If you need any legal help, feel free to contact me," Tony said, still deep in the book.  

"I will thank you.  I need to get going, can you get Tom for me?"

"Sure, JARVIS, get Peter to bring Tom in?"  Tony said to his ceiling.  

"Of course Sir," JARVIS replied.  "They're on their way."

Kathryn raised her eyebrows, suitably impressed.  "Thanks Tony, for doing this all at such short notice."

"It's fine Kathryn, I'm happy to help."

 


	3. Chapter 3

Peter walked behind the new foster kid and his little sister as she showed him the apartment.  He seemed a little bit overwhelmed, Peter understood that.  Going from having nothing to living with a billionaire was a big jump, and judging by the bruise on the side of his face it hadn't been a smooth one.

They showed him his room after Tony's.  It was across the corridor from him.  There was double bed with green sheets pressed against the far wall and  a window overlooking the city above it.  A desk sat at the end of his bed and a wardrobe on the wall closest to them.

"It's not much but Tony texted me an hour ago, I just put clean sheets on.  But work away," he said as Maisy sat down on the bed.

"Look you two have been here longer, I'll take the floor it's no big deal,"  Tom replied placing his bag down.  

Peter sighed, thankful Maisy wasn't paying attention.  "No, Tom this is your room, me and Maisy will show you ours after." 

"Oh," Tom said, looking embarrassed.  "Do I get a key?"

Peter shrugged.  "Ask Tony I guess.  C'mon I'll show you my room.  Maisy why don't you go get your teddy bears ready and then me and Tom will  come look at them in a bit."

Maisy smiled and ran out of the room.

"Tell me about you, you gonna be staying for long?" Peter asked in a nonchalant tone.

"Don't know, I don't tend to but I'm not leaving the system anytime soon.  My name's Tom, I'm about fifteen,  I like running and movies?  Whatever what about you?"

"Peter Parker soon to be Stark," he beamed.  "I just turned seventeen, I live photography I guess.  Where are you from?"

"The city but my Mam's Irish so I kinda picked up her accent."

"Oh cool can you speak it?"

"Only a little, English is spoken mos'ly there."

Peter nodded.  Steve spoke a bit of Irish too, his mom was from Ireland and she'd raised him with it.  He wasn't sure if Tom knew about Steve yet though, he'd leave Tony to deal with that one.  If he wasn't staying long there mightn't be any point

"This is my room," he said letting Tom in first.  It was  a bit of a mess, his desk littered with books and his floor with clothes.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, looking at the photos and trophies lining his book shelves.  "Thought you were a foster kid too?"

"Five years, Tony's gonna adopt me soon, it's been a long process though.  It's complicated."

"Kids in the system are fucking complicated man," Tom said.  "Where's the kid's room?  She'll come looking for us."

They walked to Maisy's room, it was painted blue and was exactly how you'd expect a little girls room to look.  Dolls sat around a tea set on the floor, barbies and GI Joes sitting in trucks and a twin bed with fairy sheets.  Tom complimented it and played cars with her and Peter for a while.  

An English voice announced that Master Tom was wanted in the living room.  

"Shit who was that?" he said wide eyed to Peter.  

"Language, c'mon she's six," he replied pointing at Maisy who was laughing at Tom.

"Language, language, language.  It was Jarvis silly."

"D'yis have a butler or something?  Where is he?"

"Kind of, he's an AI, a computer but live?  He runs the house.  You know where you're going?"

Tom shook his head and the two boys walked back to the adults.  Kathryn was standing up, arms outstretched. 

"I've got to go Tommy, no running away okay?  You call me if you need to," she said as he gave her a quick hug.  

"Yes ma'am," he said giving her a wink and a mock salute.

"And don't you sass me young man," she added playfully.  "Right I'm off, thank you Tony, I'm sure we'll be in touch soon, bye Clint."

"I'd better go too," Clint said.  "I'll call over tomorrow though.  See ya Stark, be good you two."  He added pointing at the boys.

"Always am Clint," Peter replied.  

They left together, leaving Tony, Peter and Tom staring at each other.

"Tom do you have a change of clothes?" Tony  broke the silence.

"No sir," Tom said looking down sheepishly.  

"I'm serious about you calling me Tony, Tom," Tony said lightly.  "Peter go get him some sweats a clean shirt, his are pretty damp."

Peter got up without hesitation.  Tom was surprised he wasn't fighting the man about sharing his clothes with him.  Maybe it wasn't worth the punishment.  

"Tom, I have to ask you something quite personal," Tony began.  "Are you binding right now?"

Tom looked down at his chest.  He could feel the heat rise to his cheeks as he nodded.  Of course Kathryn had told him.  He would have found out eventually.  At least he wasn't getting kicked out over it.

"What with?"  
   
"Some bandages, they took the binder Kathryn bought me," he mumbled. 

"Okay.  You can keep using them for now but I'll order you a new binder tonight.  Please don't sleep with them on.  It can damage your lungs," Tony said.  Not wanting to embarrass him further.  "Do you want anything special for dinner?"

Tom shook his head, overwhelmed by how nice Tony was being.  It was too early to trust him.  He really wasn't hungry but who knew when he'd get another meal.  He'd try and get some food to store in his room just in case.  It was the winter holidays so he didn't know if he was going to be stuck in the apartment or not.  

"Do I get a key to my room?" he asked, making hopeful eye contact.

Tony sighed.  "I don't think that's possible just yet.  It's a safety issue for one thing and with my line of work I don't want to have to waste time to get anyone out off  the building."

"Y'mean being Ironman right?"

Tony laughed and nodded.  "Yeah, I do.  I'll show you the suit tomorrow tomorrow if you want, I'll show you the rest of the building too."

"That'd be cool," Tom said as Peter came back into the room.  

"I put some stuff on your bed, and some pyjamas for tonight."

"Go get changed Tom, I'll cook some spaghetti, are you a vegetarian or anything?"

"Nope," Tom said.  He walked back to his room, thankful he'd left the door open.  He pulled it shut behind him.  He dragged the chair from his desk and wedged it under the handle, securing it in place.  Satisfied he turned to his bed.  Peter had laid out a blue t-shirt probably two sizes too big, a pair of grey sweats, socks, boxers and green pyjamas.

He pulled his shirt off, exposing scars, bruises and tight yellowing bandages wrapped around his chest.  He quickly redressed and lay down on the bed.  The sheets were soft and had he been in any other situation he would have slept.  But he didn't know his surroundings, he didn't know these people and he didn't know what would happen to him at night.  So he opted to get a feel for his room instead.  The wardrobe was bigger than he'd ever be able to fill with clothes.  It still didn't look big enough for him to be locked into.  That was a relief.  There was a vent above his bed, perfect for storing food in just in case, he'd get on that as soon as possible.  He didn't want to be caught out.  He had a tin of beans in his bag left from when he ran away. He opened up the vent using the tip of his knife and stored them away, along with his wallet.  

He climbed off his bed, picked up his laundry and went back down the hall.  Tony was humming to himself in the kitchen and Peter was laid across a couch on his phone.

He coughed to get their attention, not really sure what to do with himself.  Tony looked up and smiled.  

"Peter show him where the laundry chute is, then you can watch TV for a bit, dinner will be ready soon."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot twist there am I right


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, I've been busy with school  
> Enjoy

Dinner was uncomfortable to say the least.  Peter was trying really hard with Tom, but at the end of the day he didn't know him yet.  It was still awkward.  Tony had filled him in on his situation.  How Clint had found him in his bins.  How he'd been thrown around a lot.  How his mom was in hospital and probably wasn't going to make it out again.  So in all honesty, Peter was happy Tony took him in.  That didn't mean he wasn't relieved when he turned down his invitation to come out with him and Gwen for the night.

Once he was out of the tower, he pulled on his mask and began swinging down towards her house.  It was quicker than taking the subway, and it meant he could save whatever Tony gave him for it.  While the man was loaded, he felt uncomfortable asking for money.  It was a habit he'd picked up from most of the foster homes he'd been in growing up, and even after years with Tony he couldn't shake it. 

He dropped down by Gwen's fire exit and knocked on her window, pulling of his mask and sticking it in his pocket.  He knocked twice on the window and grinned as Gwen opened it.  She pulled him in for a kiss, before calling to her mom to tell her she was going out.  They met again at the front entrance where Peter swung his arm around her lazily.

"Hey Gwen?" he said softly.

"Yeah Pete?" she replied, moving his arm and intertwining her fingers with his as they walked down the road.  “What’s wrong?”

"My da- Tony fostered another kid."

"Oh?"

"His name's Tom, he's about fifteen but he doesn't know for sure.  His mom's really sick."

"Oh my God, poor guy,” Gwen said, genuinely devastated by the thought.  “Is he settling okay?”

“It’s kind of awkward,” he shrugged.  “He ran away from his last place and he’s pretty battered so I’m assuming worst case scenario.  It’s gonna take a while.”

“Can I meet him?  Not now of course just-.”

“Yeah soon, I’ll let you know,” he paused.  “Race you to the park!”  He grinned turning on his heels and running backwards, sticking his tongue out.

“Peter you cheater!” Gwen laughed chasing after him.

 

*             *             *

Back at the tower, Tom was getting out of his shower and piling on the pyjamas Peter had left him as quickly as possible.  He wasn’t used to this much privacy, but he still felt exposed.  It was late enough, about nine thirty, and it had been a long day.  He waited until he heard Tony walk down to his daughter’s room, yelled goodnight, and pulled his desk to the door.  He prayed silently for having a carpet, feeling a dozen times more secure.  He flicked off his light and climbed into his bed, not daring to go to sleep for another hour at least.

JARVIS told Tony about this.  Of course.  He ran a hand through his greying hair.  He wasn’t surprised.  The foster system was awful and Tom had clearly gotten the short end of the stick a lot.  It still made him feel sick to the stomach that this, this child was so on edge he couldn’t sleep for fear of what would happen.  He was going to try to get him to see someone as soon as he could.  He wanted Tom to feel safe. 

He went back to his little girl, who was lying in bed with her arms outstretched for a hug.  It was later than he’d normally let her go to bed, but he knew she’d been really excited by the day’s events. 

“Daddy,” she said, eyes half shut, arms wrapped around him.  “What’s wrong with Tom?”

Laying her back down, he replied.  “He lived with some bad people before here, he might still be a bit afraid, we just have to be gentle with him.”

“Like that girl Ver- Vron-?”

“Veronica, yeah like her.”

“Okay, when’s Stee home?”

“He’ll be back soon, time to sleep now, we can call him tomorrow.”

“Night daddy, love you.”

“Love you too.”

Tony climbed off her bed and closed the door lightly.  He had work to do in the lab and he trusted Peter to come home by his curfew.  It wasn’t unreasonable and he was a smart kid.  Smarter than Tony had been at that age anyway.  He went downstairs, setting an alarm for 4am so he could go back and get some sleep.  Since he started fostering Peter, he had forced himself into a semi decent sleeping routine.  It didn’t always work.  Especially not if he hit a brainwave. 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Steve came home to chaos.  Maisy was dressed as a ballerina dancing on the counter, insisting that the wide eyed, skinny blond boy sitting down watched her.  Peter was pulling a sheet of partially burnt cookies out of the oven, stepping over Clint’s dog as it ran towards the kid at the table.

He coughed awkwardly, causing all three children’s heads to turn.  Maisy and Peter grinned, the little girl climbing down of the counter.  Peter placed the sheet of biscuits down and walked over to him. 

“Stee!” Maisy laughed, tackling the mountain of a man into a hug.

“Hey Steve,” Peter said easily.  “This is Tom.”  He jerked a thumb in the kid’s direction.

The boy, noticeably seized up, before taking a deep breath and walking towards him.  He held out his hand and said “Hello, sir.”

Steve smiled gently and took the hand.  “Nice to meet you Tom, are you one of Peter’s friends or are you staying with us?”

“I’m staying here, for a while sir.  ‘Till my mam gets better,” he rambled, struggling to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry to hear that.  Just Steve is fine,” he said lifting up Maisy with one arm, who giggled like a crazy person.  “I hope this lot has been treating you well.  Speaking of that, Peter, where’s Tony?”

 “Oh he’s at a meeting with Pepper,” Peter shrugged.  “Should be home in an hour or two.”

“Right, do you three want to go out for pizza?”

Maisy yelled yes, Peter grinned and Tom just shrugged.  It was his go to answer when he was asked for his opinion on something, and it worried Peter.  They were going back to school in a week and the chances of him being ripped to shreds were quite high.  It didn’t faze Steve though.  He told JARVIS to let Tony know what they were doing and sent everyone off to get ready.  Before running to his room to pull on a clean shirt and hoodie.  He’d been on a mission for a month and he was just done a two day debriefing at SHIELD.  What it meant though, was Tony couldn’t contact him to say that there was another kid living with them.   He didn’t mind.  Of course.  But it was difficult being thrown in the deep end like that.  Tom was obviously abused and Steve knew his demeanour could be found intimidating.  Enough kids had stuck around a day or too, shaking when he asked them to pass him butter at the dinner table or looking solely at the ground when talking to him.  It wasn’t easy, but Steve tried to remember that it wasn’t personal.  He didn’t know how long Tom was going to stay though, he’d have to talk to Tony later.

Steve went into Maisy to help her pull off her tights, as she bounced around the room trying to tear them off.  Peter stuck his head in the doorway to tell him that he and Tom were going to wait outside.  Steve nodded, handing Maisy a jumper to put on and tying her laces for her.  He scooped her up on to his back, and she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.  They went outside to the two boys, who were waiting by the main entrance.

“Right let’s go!” Steve said, clapping Peter on the back. 

They walked down the street, out of the central business district.  Steve led them into a pizza place.

“When Steve and Tony first started going out, Steve brought me here,” Peter told Tom as they sat down at a booth.  “Best pizza in the city, hands down.”

“Oh, I didn’t realise, I mean I guessed but-,” Tom stammered, looking between Steve and Peter.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Steve said, smiling.  “It’s probably one of the two things the press doesn’t know about Tony.  I know we can trust you but I wouldn’t be surprised if it got out soon.”

“Ah shit I wouldn’t.”

“Come on dude, not in front of the kid,” Peter sighed, helping Maisy pick her food.

“Sorry.”

The waitress came over before Steve could interfere.  She was about the boys’ age, and smiled widely.  She took their orders and brought them their milkshakes almost straight away.  They gulped them down, Maisy inevitably spilt some down her shirt.  Steve stood up to bring her to the bathroom.

“Come on Maze, let’s clean you up,” he said stretching his hand out to her.

Tom’s breath started catching as they left.  He thought he'd like Steve, but what if there was some funny business going on there?  It wasn’t unusual in foster homes, hell he’d gone through his fair share of it.  But Maisy was so young.  She shouldn’t be broken like that.  She called Tony Dad for God’s sake.  Before he knew it he’d zoned out completely and his breathing just wasn’t working properly and he wanted his mam.  He wanted to go home.

Peter was crouched in front of him, hands rested steadily on his shoulders.  He’d asked their waitress to get Steve, he was just trying to keep Tom balanced on his seat.

“Ma- Mam, where’s my mam?” he stuttered, struggling to get the words out.  “I wan’ me mam.”

“She’s not here right now, Tom, you’re gonna see her tomorrow.”

“Tá brón orm.  Tá brón orm.”

Steve came around, handed Maisy to Peter and picked up Tom, dropping some money on to the table.  He held him upright, he was still in a complete state of panic, muttering gibberish in what Peter assumed was Irish only because Steve could sometimes respond.  They got into a taxi, Peter soothed Maisy gently; she was pretty spooked by the whole ordeal.

They got back to the tower, Steve must have texted Tony because he was there to meet them at the door.  Peter brought Maisy to her room.  Steve carried Tom to his, he’d fallen asleep at some point during his breakdown.  He curled up as soon as he hit the bed, arms naturally coming up to block his head.  His breathing was stable but shallow, and he was muttering incomprehensible noises in his sleep. 

The men went into their room.  Steve spoke first.

“What the hell happened to that kid?”


End file.
